Quick Jump Daily Digest

Thank you for your interest in the Quick Jump Daily Digest. Get notified of all new content on QJ in our free Daily Digest. To subscribe, enter your email address below and click the subscribe button.

Cancel and Return to page

Master Chief the next apostle; Church uses video games to bring in kids

Posted Oct 7, 2007 at 9:39AM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, PC Gaming Tags: New York Times

Here is the church. Here is the steeple. Open the doors and see all the people (playing Halo). An article from the New York Times reveals that churches actually do have a soft spot for games. In fact, some churches are using video games as an actual tool to recruit more youths.

Taking a more modern approach at enticing kids to their community, church leaders have been renting out video games and inviting teenagers for "video game night" down at the church - and this is despite the fact that some churches hold some grudges against violent games (e.g. a very recent appeal to withdraw R:FoM from the BAFTA). The New York Times article runs:

Across the country, hundreds of ministers and pastors desperate to reach young congregants have drawn concern and criticism through their use of an unusual recruiting tool: the immersive and violent video game Halo[...] // Witness the basement on a recent Sunday at the Colorado Community Church [...] where Tim Foster, 12, and Chris Graham, 14, [...] locked in violent virtual combat [...] Tim explained the game's allure: "It's just fun blowing people up." // Once they come for the games, Gregg Barbour, the youth minister of the church said, they will stay for his Christian message. "We want to make it hard for teenagers to go to hell," Mr. Barbour wrote in a letter to parents at the church.

Other supporters of this new method in recruitment believe that the important thing is for the church to connect to the youth. James Tonkowich of the Institute on Religion and Democracy points out that "If you want to connect with young teenage boys and drag them into church, free alcohol and pornographic movies would do it. My own take is you can do better than that."

The story of Halo 3 is sometimes used even as a spring board for discussion about faith. As a 16 year-old Baptist in Lawrenceville recounts: "We play Halo, take a break and have something to eat, and have a lesson. [The pastor even tried to use analogies] between God and the devil."

Sort of makes you think twice about the definition of "Covenant" doesn't it? The simple fact that the game is called "Halo" might connote something rather holy as well. So what's your take on this, though? Yes, there are a lot of controversial points raised by this issue, but please be mindful of your comments.

This story sucks? This story rocks!

Vote Now!

(0)

(0)

what an insensitive comment. at our church they've had halo 1, 2, and next wednesday they're putting in 3. the've had it for years, and in that time the youth group population has doubled so that they had to split youth group into two groups, one on tuesday nite, one on wednesday nite. for some jack*** who has probably never set foot inside a church, he sure has a lot to say on the subject. of course it works! a lot of people can't afford an xbox 360, so this is a cool alternative. also, this is every wednesday/tuesday nite, not just one night out of the month. i dont have an xbox, but i love the idea and utilizing it.

# @zocks — Jobo50 2007-10-07 11:25

Zocks2099, learn to spell.

And how is that selfish?

# Halo's message? — Tesseract 2007-10-07 11:37

Good on any church for trying to show kids that you don't have to be a lifeless prude to be a Christian.

There's nothing seriously wrong with violent video games as long as you keep fiction fiction and don't try to imitate it.

Halo is an interesting choice, too. I wonder if it's sparked any conversations about religious extremism? I haven't played 3 yet, but in Halo 2, the Arbiter didn't completely forsake his faith because of the misbehaviour of the Prophets. He just decided that their blind and fanatical interpretation of their own faith was misguided and struck out to bring down not the whole religion, but its corrupted leaders.

Whether it was intended or not, the story of Halo DOES have a very unique and worthwhile topic for discussion in church youth groups, aside form being a fun way to get new kids involved.

# - — Junior-DK 2007-10-07 11:46

In the church:

"look im makin angels out of the deamons :D"

# just a tip — musiccityminotaur 2007-10-07 11:47

It might help your argument if you could put together a complete sentence. Spelling more than 50% of the words correctly is also a plus.

# They should play... — Shadownet 2007-10-07 11:58

Devil May Cry lol

# aaa — poeticjedi 2007-10-07 12:11

LMAO!!!!!

great one

but seriously, i got nothing against violent video games, i think this just proves that organized religion isnt about values its about growth and security, just want more people, just seems counter to the whole idea, and i know someone is going to cite some unfounded crap from the bible9 which has changed meanings many times due to language change and breadth of time, which means what is in the bible isnt even close to what was originally written down) so w/e i like discussing ideas with people, not converting them, ironic, that the convenant is a play off of the christian church in a lot of ways throughout the story, kinda like the crusades in space...haha o i bet i pissed someone off (scuse any typos)

# video games in church — cruckel 2007-10-07 12:24

Is nothing new, when i was younger, we always had video game nights. Played Tekken, Mario Kart, Tony Hawk, all those fun games.

In fact i am getting ready to host a Game night at my new church. And i am going to have halo 3 there...

And i am working on a Mechnima series using either Halo or Wow to make lessons.

the church isn't full of heart less, out of date people. Some of us are still enjoying life.

# @poeticjedi — Tesseract 2007-10-07 12:33

Uhm... yeah, well, that's kind of the point to religion. Spreading the word of your particular faith to as many people as possible so they can decide whether they want to adopt that belief as their own.

Your second point about the Bible's message changing due to the times... Well, that's quite true. The trick is finding similarities in what one would read about in the Bible to what's currently happening in their life and world. The same can be said about Sun Tzu's 'Art of War' or Shakespeare's plays, not just religious tomes.

Also, t'be honest, the Covenant have a different thing going on if you try to compare it to Crusade-era Christianity or Islamic Jihad. Sure, they have the similar 'convert or die' message, but their ultimate goal is not JUST to convert, but to 'ascend' by using the Halos to 'cleanse' the galaxy. This would be like if someone unearthed a Planet-buster bomb and said that it was left by God or Allah or Bob and therefore it must be a tool for us to be closer to said deity. They then do their best to set it off, not bothering to think of any further consequences due to blinding religious fervor. Really we have no equivalent to that. It's something Bungie made up in a fit of nifty story-writing.

Doesn't change the fact that The Christian Crusades, Islamic Jihads and other such events are quite often regarded among the majority of their respecitve followers' minds as Bad Ideas after the fact.

# hmmm... — Kaden 2007-10-07 13:09

I wonder what Good ole Jack Thompson will have to say about this if he ever catches wind of it. lol

# Uh.. — Fallen 2007-10-07 13:14

Seems kinda creepy. Its like luring kids in with candy then rope them into your religion..

Church makes for a neat LAN center? Great. Church tries to convert people using video games as bait?.. um..no.

# tesseract — poeticjedi 2007-10-07 13:53

yeah i see ya where youre going, i just find religion to be the best source of irony and contradictory entertainment, believe me i spent like 8 years going to a rec room inside of a mormon church every week to hang out while my mom worked in a genealogy center that happened to be in that church complex, i had lots of fun screwing with the inductor teams, i was like 8 at the time, outsmarting them at their own game, i dono, i never insult someones faith, but i will always question their actions surrounding it and involving others. anyways an M rated bloody game in a church "iiiironnyyyyyyy yyy"

# so while they want fall of man off the map, they make kids play halo? — platon 2007-10-07 14:06

So right now, the church want Fall of Man to be off the map because a "holy" place is in the game (what is "holy" anyway, is one religion better than the others? no, they all serves weak minds to feel secure about death...), and at the same time, they give Halo games (a similar game) to kids so they can play violent games... Man, this is hard to follow.

Anyway, why bothering about religions, people should stop thinking about this crap, it's one of the most important cause of problems in the world...

# hell yeah — poeticjedi 2007-10-07 14:39

its amazing how the world changes, when u stop applying terms like good and evil, and instead decide if you like it or not, i mean you could take the typical hitler issue, he was technically not satanic, evil or full or pure ungood, he was a scarily good leader, i still don't like him, but i dont think he was evil, i think he was a hellofa threat, and that changes things, when u apply evil or good, there is no understanding, without those terms you must understand the world around you

cept Jack thompson that guy is satans butt puppet, what an ass

# FlameHalo — CHUCKINGROCKSATSPACESHIPS 2007-10-07 17:22

Your just a hypocrite along with the people who run these kind of churches. Some people are just retards and adding more junk to make them sound even more retarded don't help the stupid idea of churches. If people read the bible it pretty much says anyone supporting behavior of the sort is going against the word but to me, I am not religious in the sense of "church culture" and think of the real idea of god.

# ;) — Zocks2099 2007-10-07 17:47

@FlameHalo

Why Insensitive?? You calling me Idiot is Insensitive. And you say it yourself , People goes there because cant afford a XBOX360, so People go over there to Play and not to become Christ. And Dont Judge People if you dont know them, I was on a Christ School for 13 Years!

@Jobo50

English is no my Native Language, sorry if I dont speel correctly, but if you get my message its ok.

It is Selfish because they dont do it to pleasure the People, but to atract them.. so only for theit pourpouse .. -> selfish.

# I disagree ^ — Slipstream0 2007-10-07 18:30

the purpose of church is NOT to pleasure the people, if it were, it would be nothing but a constant orgy. The purpose of church is to re-connect to God, sometimes in new ways, and to prepare a Christian to spread the word of God. If you are going to argue, please know what your arguing about. Otherwise you look foolish.

As for the article, if it brings more people to the word of God, then what is the issue really? The have Christian Rock bands that carry the same appeal. And yes, while using Halo, a shooting game, may seem anti-productive, it does carry with it themes of redemption, forgivness, and sacrifice. All of which can be stepping stones to attracting teens to be more open and accepting to the word of God.

(Sorry for the heavy preaching sound, I am not a bible-thumper, and do not attend church regularly, however I am religious, and am not afraid to show it, proudly I may add, when there is clearly a calling for it)

# wrong — Slipstream0 2007-10-07 18:38

"Anyway, why bothering about religions, people should stop thinking about this crap, it's one of the most important cause of problems in the world... "

It is that kind of thinking that MAKES it a problem in the world. The issue is not religion, but ignorance. Do you know how many simlarities there are between, Christian, Bhudism, Muslim, ect.?

It is people's ignorance of other religions that cause problems, and the narrow-minded view that only what they believe is correct, 100%, without doubt.

Socrates called it best, when he declared that the root of all evil is ignorance. (paraphrasing, clearly)

# . — KirbySS 2007-10-07 20:41

Yeah, my church has Shin Megami Tensei parties.

# oh my nose — xche78x 2007-10-07 22:19

i smell something

take down resistance

use halo

the odors reeks.

i think im going a or p

# we no longer live in the times of the old testament. — shabghai360 2007-10-07 23:32

the old testament is full of descriptions of bloody wars and tales of oppression

and subjugation. In fact many parallels to the Halo world. In all cultures history shows us that storytelling was our entertainment. nursery rhymes often relate to past events and were taught to children so that they might remember the past. Lyrics to music sung in the courts were also entertainment but with a message. Now if we jump forward in time a couple of thousand years we have todays society. Video games itunes hollywood etc.

That the Church should make use of these tools for me is logical. Regardless of faith all congregations from all cultures christian islam buddisht etc basically teach the same principles. They teach us to respect each other and lay down the basic moral and social guides that make up humanity. If the Church using Halo can reach out to youth and at the same time offer some guidance that may enable a person to become more considerate towards others then i support it. We do not need images of a wise man with a long white beard or the devil with horns and a fork as these are images from our past. Essentially it boils down to good or bad, plus or minus etc. If in the world of video games where 90% have a theme of good guy versus the evil then for these modern times it is perfect medium for educating.

One other aspect that is overlooked is that the church is bringing these youths together where they can interact with each other and communicate rather than leaving them isolated. Many of these Churches using this new tool, the video game, are located in poorer and ignored districts where the need for the youth to communicate is very important as the alternative is portrayed by hollywood for profit. There are more gang war films than video games.

My apologies to all for such a long comment.

# The church did no wrong — TerrakaAiona 2007-10-08 05:37

What they'e doing is beneficial towards there community. It allows kids to meet new people and allows attracts more people to church. I'm not saying that EVERY youth that shows up to "Halo Night" will also show up for mass, but it would definitely increase the numbers.

# I agree — shabghai360 2007-10-08 06:02

even if the youths do not become churchgoers it does not matter. what is important is that the church brings these people together where the can interact and learn to know each other rather than be isolated and possibly fearful of one another.

# Xenosaga — Barakku 2007-10-08 08:14

has a more complex message...not strictly multiplayer, but if you want something to actually get people to discuss their faith frankly...

And uh...Resistance is somehow...bad for children, while Halo is good? Fighting in a church is more disrespectful that trying to wipe "The Covenant" from the universe?

Refresh comments list

Add comment

JComments

HOT GAMING NEWS | LATEST GAMING SEARCHES | FORUMS

QUICK JUMP DAILY DIGEST

Welcome to QJ.Net!

If you want your comments to go live without waiting for moderation, you need to be logged in. Being logged in has its benefits:

Logged in members do not wait for their comments to be approved.
Logged in members can create Profiles to be seen by other users.

So why wait? Create an account or login now! It's easy, quick, and free.

To get started, use the LOGIN boxes, or the REGISTER link below!

Want to learn more about the team who brings you the QJ news?

Read about them now!

HOT FLASH GAMES

QJ.NET Categories
• Apple • E3 • Featured Articles • Gadgets • Games for Windows • iPad • iPhone • MMORPG • Mobile • News • Nintendo 3DS • Nintendo DS • Opinions & Analysis	• Photography • PlayStation 3 • PoV • PS Vita • PSP • Rumors • Science • Site News • Tabula Rasa • Wii • Wii U • World of Warcraft • Xbox 360

Sitemap

Newest Downloads

05/22/2012 - 06/01/2012

WiiFlow Mod 3.0 r431	05/31/2012
XeBuild GUI 2.061	05/30/2012
edicpopDS v0.3.01	05/29/2012
RGLoader 0v290 Beta	05/27/2012
WiiMod 3.2	05/27/2012
WiiMC v1.2.7	05/25/2012
True Blue Firmeware v2.7	05/24/2012
3DS Video Converter v2.3	05/24/2012
Mobile Assault 1.8.2	05/24/2012
PSP Tools Alpha 0.1	05/22/2012
Newton War	05/22/2012
DaedalusX64 r766	05/22/2012
PSPMarble	05/22/2012
The Undead 4 - Nazi Zombies	05/21/2012
3DSExplorer v1.2.1	05/21/2012

Most Comments this Month
Japan Says No To Pirates	(2)
Party like Rockstar—But..	(1)
Rumor: Modern Warfare 4 to..	(1)
Get a Load of the Doom 3:..	(1)
Watch This: The Elder Scro..	(1)

Top Jumps this Month
Pokemon Liquid Cryst..	(3)
Wii homebrew - HackM..	(1)
PSP Is Back, Whiter,..	(1)
Daedalus R12 preview..	(1)
CWCheat Universal Ch..	(1)
PSP Go!Explore GPS N..	(1)
Total War: Shogun 2..	(1)

HOT GAMING NEWS TOPICS

Quick Jump Daily Digest

Master Chief the next apostle; Church uses video games to bring in kids

Related Stories:

Comments

Add comment

Newest Downloads